Well, starting up a couple nights worth of hockey news in the hockey pool with the Blackhawks and Canucks, which opened Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead for Vancouver. Well, in a tight battle, the Blackhawks managed to tie game late and then win it in overtime to tie the series at two games a piece. The big names in the pool for Chicago that came up huge were Andrew Ladd (3 points), Martin Havlat (2) and Nikolai Khabibulin (2). With the series tied at two, it will now go at least six games, which makes it a better series for overall points in the pool. Khabibulin leads the Blackhawks in pool scoring in these playoffs with 12 points.
The Red Wings wasn't going to let the Ducks get away with winning both games at home, as they came out firing and put on an offensive flurry that they really needed to capture some of the momentum in the series. The Wings scored six goals in the game to win 6-3 and tie the series up at 2-2, as they head back to Detroit for Game 5. Having big pool nights for the Red Wings were Marian Hossa (3), Johan Franzen (3) and Chris Osgood (2). This series has been an exciting one, with plenty of scoring. Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks leads the series in pool points, with 8 in this Conference Semi-Final.
On Friday night, the trend of winning at home continues, as the Penguins tied up their series with the Capitals at two, thanks to a big win, 5-3. Leading the way for the Penguins was Sidney Crosby, as he has now started to take the team on his shoulders in the playoffs, trying to guide them to the promised land again. Crosby finished the night with 3 pool points, leading all skaters, while Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko and Marc-Andre Fleury all finished with a pair of points each. This now makes for three series tied at 2 wins, which is quite something. Leading all pool players in the series is Crosby, who has 9 points in the first four games of the match-up.
Well, the last game of the four, the later game on Friday night, saw the Hurricanes dominate the Bruins in Game 4, bring them up to a 3-1 series lead, the only Conference Semi-Final not at 2-2. Leading the way for the Hurricanes in Game 4 was Eric Staal, who was the best pool player in the game, finished with 3 points in the game. The only other multi-point player in the pool in the game was Cam Ward, who finished with 2 points thanks to the win. Cam Ward also leads the series worth of players in points with 8, thanks to 3 wins and a shutout. Ward leads the entire pool in points with 18.Game-Winning Goals
Did you notice how I didn't mention any of the game-winning goals in the paragraphs above? Well, now I can outline who scored them, although you probably can guess who got them from seeing who finished with all the points. In Chicago, it was Andrew Ladd who tipped the winner home in overtime against the Canucks. Marian Hossa also managed to get his picture posted, as he earned the bonus point with the Red Wings' fourth goal in the game. Yes, it was Sidney Crosby who scored the winner for the bonus point for the Penguins in their win. Are you noticing a pattern here? Finally, it was Eric Staal, yes all the pictured players earned the bonus points and surprisingly, all four goals were scored by players in the pool. That's good news for the overall scoring, eh?
Horrible news for the Penguins, as they may have lost Sergei Gonchar for the remainder of the playoffs, thanks to a knee-on-knee collision with Alex Ovechkin. The veteran Russian defender had to be helped off the ice and the initial reports are not good. Since the Penguins & Capitals go again tomorrow, it doesn't seem likely that he'll be going. The Box 20 defender only has 5 selections in the pool, not including any of the top five teams.
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